Innovation

The plastic waste will be collected from door to door and also by rag pickers. The waste is then transported in separate vehicles to Swachha-operated dry waste collection, aggregation and drop off centres. The waste plastic is again segregated based on the colour and quality by the Swachha workers who work on daily wages. The plastic waste is broken down using a grinding machine, and the flakes are loaded onto a plastic extruder to convert waste plastic into useful raw materials as granules. These reprocessed plastic granules are then loaded onto a pipe extrusion machine which produces decent quality irrigation pipes for farmers and homogeneous tiles, and hence they are recyclable.

Inspiration

Swachha Eco Solutions is an Integrated Waste Management Company, partnered with Government working towards the "Swachha Bharath Mission".

With ecosystems getting connected and technology linking all touch points, waste management is still seen as a tedious process by every single home, business and municipality. But what has never been realized is that, improper disposal and processing of the waste leads to environmental risks.

Swachha has been conceptualized to make a difference in the ever changing landscape of waste management. Born and named as Indus Waste Management, the company was established in 2008 with Solutions – the one stop solution for waste management consulting services and recycling of waste streams from all sectors.

Swachha believes that great products can be built by listening to the customers. Team Swachha involves constant feedback cycles with the customers to create a tangible solution that is innovative, flexible and yet best in class.

Besides putting heads together to evolve the product, Swachha makes sure that they never lose track of the trends, regulations and compliance related to waste management industry.

Overall impact

The Business leads to reduction in bad effects of plastic on the environment, and also focuses on earning revenue by re-recycling and processing the plastic waste.

Swachha Eco Solutions’ ultimate goal is to gift the coming generations with a zero waste future. They not only collect the plastic waste from in and around Bangalore, but also recycle this plastic waste into useful products like “Re-tile” – a replacement for cement tiles for pavements, water drain pipes and irrigation pipes.

Business benefit

Startup Investment: Rs. 20 Lakhs

Operating Revenue: Rs. 3-4 Crores

Employees working: 11-50

Tag Line: “Towards a Greener Tomorrow”

Vision: “Our recycling initiatives are intended to play a vital role in implementing The Recycle's strategy, which aims to encourage the collection, re-use, and recycling”.

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Social and environmental benefit

The hazardous impact of Plastic can be reduced to a great extent by the innovation of the method that was followed to re-cycle the plastic and use it to make tiles and drain pipes.

The floor tiles are made of recycled Polypropylene (PP) materials and utilise a unique interlocking edge design to eliminate the need for adhesives, making installation quick and inexpensive. These tiles are non-porous, flexible and durable. The tiles remain steady despite heavy traffic and footfall. They can be installed directly over damaged or problem floors with minimal sub-floor preparations. Moreover, they are resistant to most solvents, chemicals and abrasions, and simple to maintain, reconfigure or remove. It takes 3-4 tonnes of plastic waste to manufacture approximately 10,000 tiles every day. On the subject of pricing, the tiles cost at a range of Rs. 70 to Rs. 90 per square feet, depending on how much load these tiles can bear, their colour, quality and design.

Interview

Mr Rajesh Babu G M, Co-Founder, COO, Director

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